An introductory workshop into the practice of psytronics, hardware hacking, sensory overloading, and electro-mysticism.

Is it possible to hypnotise yourself and hallucinate using simple home made electronic devices?

This workshop will focus on building simple hardware synths and controlling lights with 555 timer circuits. Once the circuit has been built the participant will then construct a wearable set of goggles, using the inner rolls from toilet roll and tin foil, which will focus the lights directly into their eyes. The rate the lights flicker and the frequency of audio are synchronised and controlled by the participant so they are able to fine tune the device in order to reveal some unusual visual patterns. For example, you may see psychedelic patterns when the rate of the light approaches flicker fusion, or perceive circular motion when the position of the lights are offset from one another.

In short, you will create your own personal hypnotic, hallucinogenic flickering noise machine.

This workshop is ideal for beginners in hardware hacking and for those interested in psytronics, stroboscopic light and experimental sound/noise. The participant will learn how to solder, build simple electronic circuits, create a synthesiser and to hypnotise themselves.

The participant will keep everything they make during the workshop and take part in a group performance/hypnotic experiment.Bio of the PresenterRyan Jordan (born Ipswich, 1983) is a UK based electronic artist working with self-made instruments and tools for live interactive performance. His work is focused on movement and the physicality in live electronic performance, noise and underground music, hypnotic trance states, and D.i.Y culture.

He has performed and presented his work internationally in a wide range of venues from art and academic institutions to derelict warehouses and squats. In 2006 he started noise=noise, a sporadic experimental performance event, which has showcased many artists, academics, hackers, dancers, and performers ranging from the internationally acclaimed to the underground lurker. He directed A10Lab in 2010 which was an experimental audiovisual performance laboratory exploring free and open-source soft and hardware.

Ryan has a BA Sonic Arts from Middlesex University (2007) and a Distinction in MFA Computational Studio Arts from Goldsmiths (2009). He is currently undertaking a PhD at the Music Technology and Innovation Research Centre at De Montfort University.

Lanfranco Aceti is known for his social activism and extensive career as artist, curator, and academic. He is a research affiliate and visiting professor at ACT @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology and director of the Arts Administration Program at Boston University. He is also the Editor in Chief of the Leonardo Electronic Almanac, The MIT Press. He has exhibited numerous personal projects including Car Park, a public performance in the UK at the John Hansard Gallery; Who The People?, an installation artwork acquired in its entirety by the Chetham’s Library and Museum in Manchester; Sowing and Reaping, installation artworks acquired in their entirety by the National Museum of Contemporary Art of Cyprus; and Hope Coming On, a site-specific choral performance he designed for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with the collaboration of the Boston Children’s Chorus, and realized in front of Turner’s Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On). In 2017, Aceti prepared a series of new artworks for an exhibition entitled Shimmer and curated by Irini Papadimitriou (V&A) at the Tobazi Mansion in Hydra, a new large choral performance titled Accursed for the Thessaloniki Biennial in Greece; and Knock, Knock, Knocking a public space installation in the Mediterranean Garden Pavilion of the New Sea Waterfront of Thessaloniki.

About us

LEA is an MIT and Leonardo/ISAST publication entirely run by volunteers. It is currently ranked number 17 for Visual Arts Publications. The Editor in Chief is Professor Lanfranco Aceti (Boston University and ACT @ MIT).

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